Aiden's First Bath

After our visitors left the Saturday Aiden was born, we gave him his first bath. Big Sister and Big Brother were eager to help. Noah was horrified, though, when he saw the umbilical cord stump. "What happened?!" he wanted to know. We told them it was the umbilical cord where he was connected to mama, it was cut when he was born, it will dry up and fall off like a scab, etc. A few days later, we overheard Madeleine telling Grandma C that was Aiden's "electrical cord".

Cerneka, Party of Five?

On May 30, at 0300, we welcomed our third child and second son Aiden Joseph Cerneka. He came in at 7 pounds, 10 ounces and 20 inches long.

I started contracting irregularly at while working on Wednesday. They continued during the day Thursday. I saw my midwife for my 39 week check up and got enough groceries to survive the End Times. Shannon had a meeting that night, so I took the kids to eat and play at McDonald's, figuring the next few days would be a little chaotic and mommy-less for them.

During that night, they started coming every ten minutes and were painful enough to wake me up each time. By the morning, Friday the 29th, the were still very regular and pretty uncomfortable. We decided to go in to the birth center and get checked. We left the kids with Dad, Mom went into school and said good bye and hugged her 3rd graders, and we called Katy Korte. We got to the Birth Center about 8am, and Ivy checked me. I was only 3-4cm and 75% effaced. She suggested we go home and relax until the contractions were closer together. We went to out to breakfast and then headed home. Mom went home and she and Dad kept Madeleine and Noah for the day. Katy remained on standby. I did some light housework, we took a walk, I tried to nap a little bit and watched a marathon of What Not to Wear. Throughout the day, my contrations went from 10 minutes apart, to four an hour, to three an hour, to two an hour. By four pm, I was one ticked off mama. I was all geared up to do this thing, and my body was not cooperating!

As the afternoon wore on into the evening, things started picking up again. By 10:00, I could could no longer walk or talk through the contractions. I was having to lean or kneel into the couch and have Shannon rub the small of my back. I was thinking about the big tub of warm water waiting for me the entire trip. We made the phone calls again and left for Columbia. When we got there, Ivy checked me again and I was 6-7 cm. I was more than ready to hop in the tub, but my blood pressure was up, so Ivy had me rest in bed for a bit. Mom and Katy got there, and after about an hour, I was able to get into the tub. It made an immediate difference in the level of discomfort. My back pain was gone immediately, and it easily cut the pain of the contractions in half. I soaked, floated, and contracted there for a couple hours, eating a bit of Mom's potato soup and visiting in between contractions. Ivy came in at about 1am and said, "You look too comfortable in there. You need to get out and walk a bit." I was indeed relatively comfortable in there, and was not the least bit interested in getting out and walking. I decided that I was just going to stay put until she came back and absolutely made me get out. 15-20 minutes later, I had to go to the bathroom, so I got out anyway, put a robe on and started making a circuit around the Birth Center.

I walked for about an hour, with Shannon next to me, waving and complaining at Mom and Katy every time we made a lap past my room. It got to the point where I could not take two steps without contracting. After a pit stop in the bathroom that lasted about 20 minutes because I started puking, likely due to transition, Ivy let me get back in the tub. Another 20 minutes later, I felt an overwhelming urge to push with my contractions. Ivy checked me, and said she was going to call the doctor, and as soon as she got there, I could push!

It seemed like forever (though it was probably about five minutes) later, I heard Dr. Alleman's voice. I started pushing. After about 10-15 minutes of pushing, the baby was born at exactly 3am. Ivy pulled him up out of the water and placed him on my chest and covered both of us with a warmed towel. I was so relieved that I was done that I totally forgot to ask if it was a boy or girl, until someone in the room asked, "What is it?". As Shannon announced, "It's a boy", I realized that I did indeed have a handful of boy parts in my right hand as I held him against my chest. We had an Aiden!

Brand new!


Ivy weighs and measure him.

Ready to go home! He is wearing the same Cardinal sleeper his sister and brother came home in.

We rested there at the Birth Center for a few hours. They made sure Aiden had nursed, that I had eaten something and used the bathroom, and we were both stable before everyone went home, at about 5am. We slept there a bit before packing up and bringing Aiden home. We got home about 11am and had a few hours to hang out with Aiden. Mom and Dad brought the kids and dinner over later. Evidently, Madeleine, who just knew she was going to have a sister, was sorely disapointed for about five minutes, crying and throwing a mini-fit. But as soon as she saw her baby brother in person, she was totally enchanted. Noah, too. He kept saying, "I love my baby brother!" and they both fought over who was going to hold him.

Spending some quiet time together at home.

Madeleine and Noah meet Aiden. They were smitten from the start, and could not stop giggling at him.

We loved our experience with the Columbia Family Birth Center and the midwifery model of maternal-child care. I felt very well cared for and respected. It is a very warm and family-friendly place to bring a new baby into the world. There were several reasons we chose an out-of-hospital birth. I don't want to get all soap boxy here, but I am more than happy to discuss our decision and our experience with anybody who has questions. I will say that if you are looking to birth under your own power in a totally supportive environment, the Columbia Family Birth Center is the place for you.

We are a very happy family of five now. We are having a wonderful summer and have already had several adventures together. Aiden is 8 weeks old tomorrow, and is now 10 pounds 7 ounces and 23 inches long. More stories and pictures to come!

Squishy baby kiss!

(Please ignore my crooked pictures on the wall behind us.)

Anniversary Weekend Part 2 - Swimming, Magic House, and Ted Drewes

After the game, we relaxed at the hotel and let the kids cool of in the pool. I enjoying the huge hot tub - it was just the thing for my feet and back after all that walking and standing. Madeleine would not get in the pool, but she loved splashing around in the hot tub with me. Shannon managed to get Noah into the big pool, then he taught him to jump from the side into his arms. Noah loved it and they played like that for the better part of an hour.

The next day, we visited the Magic House. There was a traveling exhibit on fairy tales. That was our first stop and we had a hard time getting Madeleine to leave it. They feature fairy/folk tales from around the world, including some dress up items. Madeleine put on a flowy, full skirted white princess dress and a red chinese robe over it and wore it all over the exhibit.

Going to her Asian fusion ball in Cinderella's coach.

They have a massive water play feature, and this was Noah's favorite part.


Reading the news in the tv studio. We also had a hard time getting Madeleine away from this one.



Shannon and Noah were playing down stairs, and Madeleine and I were upstairs in the play restaurant, and I just happened to look out the window and caught Noah climbing up on the (play) ice cream cart to have a look.

Part of the expansion includes an exhibit on the three branches of federal government. This is a mock up of the Oval Office, and we took turns pretending to the Madam or Mr. President.





After the Magic House, we were ready to head home, but we decided to treat the kids to Ted Drewes first. We put the back of the van up and rearranged our stuff in order to sit back there to eat our custard. It was fun, until Noah dropped his face down on the parking lot. Two minutes later, Madeleine dropped hers, too, and we were done.
It looks like two giant birds had been perched on our van, doesn't it?

Anniversary Weekend Part 1 - Cards Game

Our 6th anniversay was May 24th. To celebrate, we took the kids to St. Louis for a weekend trip to the STL that Saturday and Sunday. We started with an afternoon ball game at Busch Stadium. Our hotel was out at the airport, so we parked there and rode the MetroLink into downtown, which was a good idea until after the game. It turns out we didn't save any money or time do it this way. However, the kids loved the train, and Noah talked about the ride as much as the game. It was Noah's first visit to Busch Stadium. It was a good time, even with the heat and all the walking. Those of you paying close attention will note that this was exactly a week before Aiden joined us, which is why you see no pictures of me in this post. One does not take or post pictures of themselves hot, sweaty, and 39 weeks pregnant. It was fun, though, and we enjoyed spending time together as a family of four one last time.

Waiting for the train.

Our seats were high up, and in the sun for the entire game, but we had a great view on the 3rd base line and sat with some fun (and thankfully understanding and patient) fans.


Sno cones are an easy way to keep a two year old hydrated on a hot day.

There is a Family Pavilion out behind center/right field with a small play area. We spent a couple innings there to let the kids run around and to get out of the sun.

More treats! Dippin dots are a favorite. I should explain the lack of spirit wear on the girl. We don't have anything that fits her anymore, so we went shopping before we left. She, naturally, wanted a pink Cardinals shirt. We couldn't find one in her size around here, so we told her we'd get one for her at the stadium. You'd think they'd have at least one pink Cards shirt in a 4 year old's size, and they did, but they were ugly or dumb. She was happy in her Cinderella shirt, although it was blue and we were playing the Royals.

We did a lot of walking, and that can be hard on little legs. Noah spent a lot of time up on Shannon's shoulders.

There were batting cages in the Family Pavilion for big and little kids. This is Madeleine's second cage. She left the first one because she wanted to wear the pink helmet in this one. The balls were on tethers and easy for them to whack.

After the game, we got in line to take the MetroLink back to the airport, and waited for 30 minutes to squeeeze on a west bound train. I did my best impression of a hot, tired woman in her ninth month of pregnancy to no avail. I stood until the next to last stop, about 30 minutes, when a couple seats opened up and someone finally offered them to me and the kids. They didn't mind, they loved the ride back as much as the ride in. We got to our hotel, had a cocktail and a swim, and everyone slept extremely well that night.

Madeleine's Recital

On Sunday, we celebrated Madeleine's first year of dance with her recital. It was fabulous - exactly what you thought a small-town dance studio's recital would be. Madeleine's class is the 4-5 year olds, and their ballet and tap routines were also exactly what you thought they would be. Madeleine did very well, considering she's the youngest in the class and sometimes has trouble focusing. She spent a lot of her dances watching the other girls, and did okay with the steps, and got lots of direction when it was time to move from the girls on either side of her. Gramma and Granpa, Kelly, Grandma C, Aunt Laura with Nathan and Kaitlyn all came. Shannon was able to get home in plenty of time from Oklahoma City, in spite of a canceled flight, thanks to a generous priest who drove him the 8 hours home. Afterwards, we went to Bonkers to spend time with Shannon's family and celebrate.

Getting ready!






Watching the big girls practice their tap routine at the dress rehearsal. I took all my pictures during the rehearsal so I could get closer without disturbing the other families.

Madeleine, second from the left, sitting with the rest of her class.

The ballet routine was called "An American Wedding". I don't know why - the music wasn't especially wedding-ish, except for a few bars of the wedding march from Midsummer Night's Dream, but it was cute, short, and simple. Madeleine is third from the right.

The tap routine was to "This Land is Your Land". She did better with the steps with this routine, but had issues remembering where she needed to be when. The other girls were very helpful and kind of pushed her around the stage until she got where she needed to be. She's second from the right in this photo.

Again, second from the right, but in front now.

A rare synchronized moment in the routine.

This land is made for you and me! As a side note, the day after her recital, she was fighting with Noah over a cardboard diaper box they had been playing in, and she pushed him out, saying "This land was NOT made for you and me, Noah!".

Final pose!


The actual curtain call. Madeleine is fourth from the left, I think. The Senior Dance Corps members are mostly teachers and demonstrators, and they were the ones to herd the dancers around and get them on and off stage, which was nice, then a parent didn't have to do it.

The gave all the dancers medals with the logo for the recital on it. Madeleine thought she had won an Olympic Gold Medal!!! She kind of looks like an ice skater in these pictures, with the costume, the flowers, and the medal.

At Bonkers with Nathan.

The day after, she dressed her brother in both costumes. Here they are, taking their own private curtain call. I'm going to be in big trouble in about 10 years for taking these pictures.

A close up of Madeleine's recital roses. I was playing with the macro setting on my new camera.